Baroness Susan Greenfield is a brain scientist who says time spent with electronic devices is rewiring the brain.Source:News Limited

WE’RE all guilty of it. We’re at the pub, dinner table or enjoying a fun arvo with a group of friends and, instead of talking to the people we’re with, we’re preoccupied with our phones.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, video games and — dare I say it — news.com.au all provide endless distractions, as well as more opportunities to share, connect and spout your views than ever before.

But what effect is this having on us? More crucially, how is it affecting our brains?

Renowned British neuroscientist Baroness Susan Greenfield says modern technology is not only changing the way we interact, it is changing the wiring in our brain.

Professor Greenfield, who is also a member of the British upper house, says the hyper-connectedness of today’s youth gives them shorter attention spans and makes them more narcissistic, more susceptible to depression and anxiety, and less empathetic.

“The mid-21st century mind might almost be infantilised, characterised by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathise and a shaky sense of identity,” she told parliament in 2009.

Her interest in the subject has culminated in her book Mind Change, released in August, in which she argues:

● That social media is affecting our sense of identity and ability to empathise,

● That video games are shortening attention spans, and increasing our recklessness and aggression, and

● That search engines are making us confuse information for knowledge.

Prof Greenfield says that the brain is exquisitely designed to adapt to its environment and, because technology has created a vastly changed social environment, it follows that our brains may also being changing in an unprecedented way.

What effect does our addiction to screens have on the way we relate to each other?

She argues that today’s youth are developing in a world where relationships are increasingly formed online, which means we are less able to rehearse important social skills.

“Human beings love talking about themselves. Nature has developed body language so you can be sure that your interaction is reasonably secure, and you don’t make yourself vulnerable, through eye contact, gestures and pheromones,” Prof Greenfield told news.com.au.

But words — the primary means through which people interact on social media — make up only 10 per cent of the impact made when you meet someone.

“If you are not rehearsing those visual clues, you are going to be at a disadvantage,” Prof Greenfield said.

She said people were much more likely to insult others online because they didn’t have those cues.

“If someone says ‘I hate you’ to someone’s face, they may not say it again because the way it makes that person feel may be extremely hurtful, which can give the person who said it a physiological churning,” Prof Greenfield said.

“Those constraints are not available on social networking. You don’t have that handbrake … That’s what I’m concerned about.”

Provocative ideas … Baroness Susan Greenfield.Source:News Limited

Prof Greenfield cites a studies on her website that show a decline in levels of empathy among young people.

She also said social media was forcing people to tie their self esteem and identity to an artificial world.

“If you have a good friend, the problem becomes thinking that Facebook friends are the same thing,” she said.

“For many people, their status, their life and their culture can revolve around social networking.

“If you rely overly on your social networking, it impairs you in adult life. You won’t fess up if you are feeling down. You won’t say, ‘I need a hug’. Instead you’ll be saying ‘Here’s a chocolate cake!’ and want to impress people and keep up with them.

“You are living an artificial life. Eventually things start to fall apart.

“The real you, the person who needs a hug, needs support, when times are rough, those things are not as readily available as they used to be.

“Because if you have a social life dependent on social friends (online), there’s a higher level of anxiety and low self-esteem that hasn’t been there before.”

Before the advent of the internet, Prof Greenfield said people who were bullied in the playground could escape it at home, but now with social media and smartphones, that behaviour was “unremitting” 24/7.

Prof Greenfield cited a recent study that found that if smartphones and other devices with screens were taken away from pre-teens for only five days, their interpersonal skills improved.

She said our hyper-connectedness meant we had less time to reflect and to think for ourselves.

“That will change in the longer term your neural connections. Some may be good, some you may want, but parents may start thinking, what type of people you want our kids to be?”

So what message does she have for news.com.au’s digital natives?

“To be aware that there’s other things they could be doing as well as being in the cyber space. You can have a richer life, rather than one in two dimensions.”

Prof Greenfield said by switching off the screens, young people would have a stronger sense of identity.

“This is a good way of developing a robust identity, rather than constantly being reactive to external things. You would have an inner strong identity, rather than one constantly constricted by the approval of others.

“You can develop a robust identity rather than giving in the fickles and caprices of people jeering to them in cyber space.”

Smartphones mean some people have no respite from bullying.

Prof Greenfield stressed that she understood the benefits of social media, but she wanted to spark a debate about its harmful consequences.

“I don’t want to join the Amish, I’m not anti-technology, but we need to be in control. This is something we should be thinking about.

“My concern is that although there are good things, but there’s also the short attention, lack of empathy, increased aggression and increased risk taking that it can cause.

“There’s an overemphasis on sensation and instant, strong reactions that are making people act much younger than they actually are.”

Prof Greenfield’s book and website have references to back up her claims, but it should be noted that she has received significant criticism of her findings.